THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Elm

Lisa Karen Miller

          Orpheus rescued his beloved wife Eurydice from the underworld by strumming his harp to enchant and render immobile those who would keep her there.  He then paused long enough to play her a love song. 

          From that spot sprang the first elm grove.

          Theatres and music halls the world over are called The Orpheum in tribute to his magical musical skills.

          For the Celts, elms are also associated with the underworld, and the elves who guarded burial mounds shared a special bond with these trees. They also have the reputed power of repelling witches, so elm twigs were often brought into houses to protect it from hags.

          Native to Great Britain and rivalling the oak in height, some specimens are so revered by the communities where they thrive that they have been given names.  Their histories are kept alive by local custom.

          In Humberside, a former ceremonial county in Northern England, an aptly named trio – Alto, Bass, and Tenor – harks back to the original Greek story. In Devon, May Day revels are held round the Dancing Elms.

          Sadly, some of these venerable trees have succumbed to Dutch elm disease, which continues to ravage the elms of Europe and America.  It is spread by the elm bark beetle. Native to Asia, the disease was first identified by Dutch phytopathologists – those who study plant diseases.     

          Elms were used as boundary markers and hedges because of their impressive stature.  They also cast a lot of shade, and so were a convenient place for itinerant preachers, politicians, or rabble rousers (it was sometimes difficult to distinguish among them) to gather a crowd.

  In keeping with its affinity for the afterlife, the elm was often used for coffins.  Elms are noted for dropping large boughs when there is no wind about – making people wary of walking under them at any time.  As one saying has it, “Elm hateth man, and waiteth.”

          Another saying reports its association with death and bereavement:

“Ellum do grieve,

Oak he do hate,

Willow do walk,

If you travels late.”

          Its bendability made it a perfect choice for boat hulls and cartwheels, which require curved wood.  It was not good for building houses or burning, however. Before the introduction of metal water pipes, hollow elm trunks were used, as they withstood moisture quite well.

          The elm serves as both a reminder of our mortality and our need to find love.

          Perhaps it is the one that fuels the other.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller